All major carriers, including those from India, would stop issuing paper tickets, adhering to International Air Transport Association's (IATA) June 1 deadline for starting 100 per cent e-ticketing.
The move, being carried out by airlines across the globe, would enable savings of an estimated three billion dollars per year, excluding the cut in costs of transaction and back-office paper work.
"An estimated five billion A4 sheets were needed to print paper tickets per annum. Twice that number were required for back-office paper work," Bird Group Executive Director Ankur Bhatia and Amadeus CEO Rakesh Bansal said here. E-ticketing would save so much of paper.
Amadeus not only introduced e-ticketing in India almost five years ago, but also trained almost 6,000 CISF personnel stationed at airports across the country to identify the e-tickets, Bhatia said.
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The IATA had decided to implement e-ticketing globally by the end of 2007, but the deadline was extended till May 31 this year.
The airlines operating in India, which have introduced almost cent per cent e-ticketing already, include Jet Airways, Indian (now Air India), Kingfisher Airlines and JetLite.
Foreign carriers like British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, Sri Lankan Airlines, Emirates and GulfAir have also started 100 per cent e-ticketing facility, Bhatia said.